Method for automatic charging

ABSTRACT

Peer-to-peer messages supplied to a peer-to-peer message filter from a mobile radio communication network are identified and delivered to a superpeer computer which is connected to a mobile radio network-fixed network interface computer. The peer-to-peer message filter is disposed in the mobile radio communication network. At least one digital rights management service is installed in the superpeer computer.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a national stage of PCT/2003/002590, published inthe German language on Mar. 18, 2004 which claims priority to GermanApplication No. 102 41 628.1 filed Sep. 3, 2002, which is incorporatedherein, in its entirety, by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a communication system, a peer-to-peer messagefilter computer and a method for processing a peer-to-peer message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known that peer-to-peer services are provided by computers thatare interconnected by means of a fixed communication network. With purepeer-to-peer services in which no index server computer is used, such asfor example in the peer-to-peer architecture Gnutella, problems occur inrelation to performance and scaling during the location and distributionof content to the computers interconnected via the fixed communicationnetwork.

For this reason computers known as superpeer computers (often alsoreferred to as “search hubs”, “supernodes” or “ultrapeers”) have beenused in a fixed communication network, which computers are superior tothe “normal” peer-to-peer computers in terms of their performance, thatis to say their computing capacity, as well as in terms of data storagewith regard to the storable volume of data. The architecture with whichthe superpeer computers are used in the context of peer-to-peer servicesis also referred to as a hybrid peer-to-peer computer architecture.

Within the scope of the hybrid peer-to-peer architecture, a knownpractice is to use mechanisms by means of which a “normal” peer-to-peercomputer is selected as a superpeer computer within a hybridpeer-to-peer service on the basis of the performance data of apeer-to-peer host computer, that is to say a computer on which apeer-to-peer service is installed. Performance data includes for examplethe computing capacity of the central processing unit (CPU), theavailable bandwidth of the communication interface or the communicationlink to which the peer-to-peer computer is connected, as well as theamount of storage space available in the peer-to-peer computer.

According to the prior art, the superpeer computers are only availablein the fixed communication network. Communication in the fixedcommunication network typically takes place according to the InternetProtocol (IP) and the Transport Control Protocol (TCP) or also the UserDatagram Protocol (UDP) as well as according to the peer-to-peerprotocol assigned to the peer-to-peer service used in each case.

If, as part of a packet-switched communication with a mobile radioterminal device, a peer-to-peer service is to be used by said mobileradio terminal device, the performance of a peer-to-peer service used bythe terminal device essentially depends on the point within the fixedcommunication network at which a superpeer computer associated with therespective service is disposed. With peer-to-peer service data trafficwhich has been generated by a mobile radio terminal device, the datapackets constituting the data traffic must always be routed, for examplein the case of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), via the GGSNcomputer (Gateway GPRS Support Node computer) into the IP-based fixedcommunication network and, in the worst case, back again into a mobileradio communication network.

With this approach considerable resources are required, both in terms ofthe computing capacity of the computers involved as well as in terms ofthe available bandwidth both of the fixed communication network and ofthe mobile radio communication network, which in certain situations canlead to adverse effects on the rest of the data traffic or the rest ofthe voice traffic within the mobile radio communication network.

The basic principle of determining and disposing superpeer computers ina fixed communication network is known for example in architectures suchas FastTrack or the Gnutella Reflector.

In the case of FastTrack, “normal” peer-to-peer computers are selecteddynamically as an index server computer (superpeer computer) for theentire peer-to-peer communication network on the basis of their betternetwork connection, that is to say a higher available bandwidth,compared to other peer-to-peer computers.

According to the Gnutella architecture, a so-called “reflector” computeris installed at an access point to a usually more poorly connected modemsub-communication network, which reflector computer bundles, in a mannertransparent to the user, request messages from the rest of theinternet-based communication network and if possible responds to themdirectly. The reflector computer also handles the buffering of veryfrequently requested data, or to put it another way “popular content”,so that peer-to-peer computers which only have a low-rate communicationlink are relieved of some of their load.

A reflector computer of this type is usually installed at networktransition points such as, for example, at intranet/internet gatewaycomputers.

There is also a considerable problem in the context of peer-to-peerservices with regard to the usage rights of the electronic files whichare identified and provided by means of the peer-to-peer services,generally with regard to Digital Rights Management (DRM) of theelectronic files. Due to the decentralized structure of the peer-to-peerservices, an efficient digital rights management is not possibleaccording to the prior art.

According to the prior art, access to a peer-to-peer service is eitherfully granted or fully blocked.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention improves the availability and efficiency of digital rightsmanagement services in the context of peer-to-peer services within amobile radio communication network.

The invention also improves the availability of internet-basedpeer-to-peer services in a mobile radio communication network.

In one embodiment of the invention, there is a communication systemhaving a fixed communication network, a mobile radio communicationnetwork and a mobile radio network-fixed network interface computerwhich is embodied as a connecting node between said communicationnetworks and which is connected to the fixed communication network andthe mobile radio communication network, with the mobile radionetwork-fixed network interface computer being set up as a GGSN computer(Gateway GPRS Support Node computer). The mobile radio network-fixednetwork interface computer is set up for mapping an incoming data streamfrom the fixed communication network onto the communication protocolused in the mobile radio communication network and for mapping anincoming data stream from the mobile radio communication network ontothe communication protocol used in the fixed communication network. Alsoprovided is a superpeer computer which is connected to the mobile radionetwork-fixed network interface computer. Also disposed in the mobileradio communication network is a peer-to-peer message filter which isset up in such a way that peer-to-peer messages supplied to thepeer-to-peer message filter from the mobile radio communication networkare identified and delivered to the superpeer computer. According to oneembodiment it is provided that the communication from the fixedcommunication network also takes place using the peer-to-peer messagefilter, in which case the peer-to-peer message filter is set up in sucha way that peer-to-peer messages supplied to the peer-to-peer messagefilter from the fixed communication network are identified and deliveredto a computer in the mobile radio communication network.

Installed in the superpeer host computer there is at least one digitalrights management service by means of which usage rights with regard toan electronic file which is transmitted from or to the mobileradio-fixed network interface computer are specified.

According to one embodiment of the invention, it thus becomes possiblefor the first time to implement a digital rights management serviceefficiently and reliably, with the fact being exploited according to theinvention that the requested electronic files that are to be transferredinto the mobile radio communication network are buffered in thesuperpeer host computer, with the result that a central location iscreated there by means of which access is enabled to the electronicfiles that are transmitted within the framework of a peer-to-peerservice, i.e. more graphically a peer-to-peer exchange mart.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the invention, the exchanged data,i.e. the exchanged electronic peer-to-peer files, can be offered on areliable legal basis, namely on the basis of a digital rights managementsystem.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the invention, within the frameworkof a mobile radio communication network architecture, in particular whena mobile radio communication network of the third and succeedinggeneration is used, and through the use of a superpeer host service, thepeer-to-peer data traffic is bundled and the contents of the datatraffic, i.e. the exchanged electronic files that are to be transferredinto the mobile radio communication network and from same, are buffered.As a result a copy of the electronic file is available in the superpeerhost computer and the latter can apply the digital rights managementservice accordingly also present in the computer to the respectiveelectronic file. On account of the buffered copy of the electronic fileor the buffered electronic file itself the superpeer host computer canthus execute the different methods, mechanisms and any verificationmethods as part of the digital rights management service. Sinceaccording to the architecture of the mobile radio communication networkthe electronic files are usually buffered for a certain length of timein any case before they are transferred into the mobile radiocommunication network itself, sufficient time remains according to theinvention in order to be able to execute even compute-time-intensivealgorithms within the framework of the digital rights managementservice.

It is provided according to one embodiment of the invention todistribute the corresponding computing tasks within the framework of thedigital rights management service to a plurality of computers connectedto the superpeer host computer and to merge the results once again inthe superpeer host computer. In this connection it is provided, forexample, to combine high-performance clusters comprising a plurality ofpowerful computers within the scope of the calculation of thecompute-intensive mechanisms of the digital rights management service.

A digital rights management service is understood to mean a servicewhich comprises the description, identification, handling, protection,monitoring and tracking of all forms of usage rights relating to thecontents of electronic files, preferably multimedia files, i.e. forexample relating to text files, image files, video files, audio files,and the management of the rights relationships of the rights owners withone another. To put it another way, the digital rights managementrepresents a set of technologies which owners of electronic content canuse to protect their intellectual property rights and remain in moreintimate contact with their customers. Typically, a digital rightsmanagement system is a system by means of which digital multimedia datais encrypted and access is limited to just those users who have acquireda sufficient usage license to use the contents of the multimedia file.This means that a digital rights management system has a set oftechnologies by means of which it is possible to distribute, promote andsell digital multimedia data via a communication network preferablybased on the internet in a more secure, reliable and trusted way.

In a peer-to-peer superpeer host computer there is installed at leastone digital rights management service by means of which usage rightsrelating to an electronic file which is transmitted from or to themobile radio network-fixed network interface computer are specified.

With the method, an electronic file identified by the superpeer hostcomputer in accordance with the mobile radio peer-to-peer message isprocessed in accordance with a digital rights management serviceinstalled in the superpeer host computer.

One advantage of the invention is to be seen in particular in the factthat the provider of the superpeer host computer, more particularly theprovider of the mobile radio communication network, and the provider ofthe peer-to-peer service and the electronic files have the opportunityto generate additional value from a legally critical situation and atthe same time provide mutual legal protection for each other.

The invention can clearly be seen in the fact that already in the mobileradio communication network or at least immediately next to or, from theviewpoint of the message flow, very close to the mobile radiocommunication network, internet-based peer-to-peer messages areidentified and forwarded to a superpeer computer disposed very close tothe mobile radio network-fixed network interface computer.

In this context the term “close” is to be understood as meaning that thesuperpeer computer, that is to say a computer with a superpeerfunctionality, is connected to the mobile radio network-fixed networkinterface computer by means of a communication link providing largeavailable bandwidth, or to put it another way, by means of an optimizedcommunication link, for example in immediate proximity to the mobileradio network-fixed network interface computer, preferably by means ofdirect linkage without a further switching computer being inserted inthe connection, having a dedicated connection to the internet-basedfixed communication network.

The peer-to-peer message filter computer and preferably also thesuperpeer computer are disposed in the mobile radio communicationnetwork and are administered and operated by the mobile radiocommunication network carrier. Alternatively, the computers can also beoperated by a different carrier and do not have to be disposed in themobile radio communication network.

The superpeer computer is preferably disposed in the mobile radiocommunication network, in the core network of the mobile radiocommunication network, for example, when a third-generation mobile radionetwork is used.

When a third-generation mobile radio communication protocol is used, forexample according to the GPRS or the UMTS, the superpeer computer can beaddressed by an SGSN computer (Serving GPRS Support Node computer) or aGGSN computer (Gateway GPRS Support Node computer).

According to one embodiment of the invention, the load due to the datatraffic occurring in the core network of the mobile radio communicationnetwork on account of peer-to-peer messages frequently forwarded via aplurality of peer-to-peer computers is relieved by the early terminationof peer-to-peer data traffic. The early termination is attributable inparticular to the immediate proximity of the superpeer computer to themobile radio network-fixed network interface computer.

Furthermore the support for different peer-to-peer services is optimizedwith regard to the required bandwidth as well as the required computingcapacity of a superpeer computer.

Furthermore the response times to peer-to-peer search query messages areshortened and the requested data is available quickly to the mobileradio terminal device requesting the data, as a result of which thequality of service for a user of peer-to-peer services from a mobilecommunication terminal device is improved.

Furthermore the attractiveness and the additional revenue-earningopportunities for mobile radio communication network carriers areincreased by the selective offering for use of own superpeer computers.

The embodiments of the invention that are described in the followingrelate to the communication system, the peer-to-peer superpeer hostcomputer and the method for processing a peer-to-peer message.

The at least one digital rights management service can be set up in sucha way that at least one of the following steps can be performed on theelectronic file:

-   -   Insertion of a digital rights management coding scheme by means        of which it is specified that after a predefined time has        elapsed or at a predefined time the electronic file will become        unusable for a user;    -   Modification of the contents of the electronic file;    -   Removal of a part of the electronic file;    -   Scanning for a computer virus, a computer worm or a Trojan        horse;    -   Signing of the contents of the electronic file.

The signing of the contents of the electronic file serves in particularto declare the contents of the electronic file as “trusted” or“verified”.

If the operator of the superpeer host computer is, for example, thecarrier of the mobile radio communication network, then the carriertakes on a position as a trusted “public person” that the carrier can,according to the invention, use to confirm the contents of theelectronic files. In this case the carrier fulfills the function of whatis known as a “trusted third party”. The signature of the contents ofthe electronic file includes for example a hash value which can be usedto check whether the electronic file has or has not been modified.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, it is provided that thecontents of the electronic file can be provided with internet links(Hypertext Markup Language Links) to a provider of a desired electronicfile (i.e. more precisely, to a provider address in the form of a URL(Unique Resource Locator) or with other additional data, for examplewith image data, for example coded according to the MPEG standard, if oras soon as predefined events have occurred, for example as soon as apredefined time interval has elapsed or when a predefined time has beenreached.

It is also provided that the electronic file is downloaded directly byvendors. In this case the payment can be handled for example directlywith the party offering the electronic file for sale, usually usingaccounting mechanisms known per user within the framework of electroniccommerce, via a usage fee or via the normal accounting function of themobile radio communication service.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the fixed communicationnetwork is based on internet protocols, that is to say in particular onthe Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transport Control Protocol (TCP) oralso the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

The superpeer computer is preferably disposed in the mobile radiocommunication network.

By means of this embodiment of the invention, the message paths ofpeer-to-peer request messages that are sent by a mobile radio terminaldevice are shortened further and provision is made to prevent asubstantial data stream from being routed into the fixed communicationnetwork and there a superpeer computer in the fixed communicationnetwork which can process the peer-to-peer request message beingidentified only after transmission via a plurality of switchingcomputers and also fixed network peer-to-peer computers.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is provided that in accordancewith the peer-to-peer request message additional information relating tothe requested file is determined in an analogous way to a search engine,and this information is made available to the mobile radio terminaldevice by the superpeer computer in addition to the requested electronicfile. The additional information is, for example, information aboutmanufacturers or vendors of products which are related in a predefinableway to the requested file.

According to this embodiment of the invention, there is installed in thesuperpeer host computer clearly at least one search service, alsoreferred to as a search engine, by means of which information relatingto the electronic file is determined by computers provided in the fixedcommunication network and made available for further processing.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the mobile radiocommunication network is based on a mobile radio system of the third ora succeeding generation, in particular on one of the following mobileradio communication networks:

-   -   Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),    -   Future Public Land Mobile Telephone System (FPLMTS).

According to another embodiment of the invention, it is provided thatthe mobile radio communication network is set up according to the GroupeSpeciale Mobile (GSM) standard.

If a Gateway Support Node computer (GGSN computer) is provided in themobile radio network as a mobile radio-fixed network interface computer,preferably if the mobile radio communication network is set up as a UMTScommunication network, communication from the mobile radio communicationnetwork into the fixed communication network and vice versa is handledby means of the GGSN computer.

According to another embodiment of the invention, an installationmechanism is provided by means of which a peer-to-peer service isinstalled in the superpeer computer if the corresponding peer-to-peerservice has been requested sufficiently frequently by mobile radioterminal devices.

The frequency with which a peer-to-peer service is requested by a mobileradio terminal device can be determined using a counter for apeer-to-peer service offered in each case in the superpeer computer orprovided in the peer-to-peer message filter computer. If thepeer-to-peer service has been requested more frequently than is providedfor by a predefined threshold value, the respective peer-to-peer serviceis installed in the superpeer computer, also referred to below as thesuperpeer host computer, if said service is not already installedtherein in the first place. It should be noted in this connection that anumber of superpeers can be installed on the same superpeer hostcomputer and so can run thereon.

In an alternative embodiment, it is provided to reset the respectivecounter of the peer-to-peer services after a predefined length of time,with the result that a request rate is used as the installationcriterion for the respective peer-to-peer service, or to put it anotherway, a peer-to-peer service is installed in the superpeer computer if ina predefined time interval more peer-to-peer requests from the mobileradio terminal devices in the mobile radio communication network areprocessed by the superpeer computer than are provided for by apredefined threshold value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in the figure andwill be explained in more detail below.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system with a fixed communication networkand a mobile radio communication network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a communication system 100 with a fixed communicationnetwork 101 and a mobile radio communication network 102.

In the fixed communication network there are provided a plurality ofcomputers 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 which are connected toone another by means of the fixed communication network 101 and which,according to the present exemplary embodiment, use the Internet Protocol(IP) and the Transport Control Protocol (TCP) for communication, or toput it another way, the fixed communication network 101 is based oninternet protocols.

Peer-to-peer services are also installed in a freely predefinable mannerin the fixed network computers 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 and the fixednetwork computers 103, 104, 105 are additionally set up forcommunication according to the respective peer-to-peer communicationprotocol so that they can provide and make use of peer-to-peer services.

File sharing services, for example, are provided in the fixed networkcomputers 103, 104, 105, or also services for providing files, forexample multimedia files, in particular audio files and/or video filesand/or image files, according to this exemplary embodiment audio fileswhich include telephone ringtones. Also stored in the fixed networkcomputers 103, 104, 105 are the multimedia files provided to otherpeer-to-peer computers by the respective fixed network computer 103,104, 105.

Peer-to-peer services according to the peer-to-peer communicationprotocol Gnutella or the peer-to-peer communication protocol FastTrackare preferably used. If FastTrack is used as the peer-to-peercommunication protocol, the peer-to-peer services Imesh, Grokster orKaZaA based thereon are provided for example.

In an alternative embodiment any peer-to-peer services and peer-to-peercommunication protocols can be used.

Also provided in the fixed communication network 101 are superpeercomputers 106, 107 which have superpeer functionality for some or all ofthe peer-to-peer services available in the network, that is to say, forexample, serve as the index server for a respective peer-to-peerservice.

The fixed network computers 103, 104, 105 and the fixed networksuperpeer computers 106, 107 form what is known as a genericpeer-to-peer network 111, or to put it another way, a virtual network ofcomputers which can communicate with one another according to therespective peer-to-peer service or the respective peer-to-peercommunication protocol.

In the mobile radio communication network 102 there are provided aplurality of mobile radio terminal devices 112 which are likewise set upfor providing or for making use of peer-to-peer services.

The mobile radio terminal devices 112 are connected via a radio link 113to a base station 114 and by means of the latter to an SGSN computer 115and via that to a GGSN computer 116, with the result that the mobileradio terminal devices 112 can exchange messages with the GGSN computer116 according to the mobile radio protocol used in each case.

The mobile radio communication network 102 is set up according to theUMTS standard.

According to the present exemplary embodiment of the invention, the GGSNcomputer 116 serves as a mobile radio network-fixed network interfacecomputer and is set up for mapping an incoming data stream from thefixed communication network 101 onto the communication protocol used inthe mobile radio communication network 102 on the one hand, and on theother hand for mapping an incoming data stream from the mobile radiocommunication network 102 onto the communication protocol used in thefixed communication network 101 or, as the case may be, onto its dataformats. Also provided in the GGSN computer 116 is a peer-to-peermessage filter 117 which can identify peer-to-peer messages in theincoming message stream received in the GGSN computer 116.

This takes place, for example, such that the peer-to-peer requestmessage 118 supplied to the GGSN computer 116 by a mobile radio terminaldevice 112 is supplied in the UMTS protocol format, generally in the3GPP protocol format used in each case, and is unpacked, that is to saydecoded, with the result that the peer-to-peer request message isidentified in the GGSN computer 116 at the protocol level of OSI layer7, in other words the application layer, according to the peer-to-peercommunication protocol format used in each case.

Alternatively, the specification of the port via which the peer-to-peerrequest message 118 was received by the GGSN computer 116 can be used asan identification criterion, since a peer-to-peer service is usuallyassigned a unique port number.

Once the peer-to-peer request message 118 has been decoded, the GGSNcomputer 116 uses a mapping table in which all peer-to-peer protocolformats taken into account by the peer-to-peer message filter 117 arespecified in order to determine by means of a comparison of the protocolformats whether a peer-to-peer protocol format and, if applicable, whichpeer-to-peer protocol format was used in the message and whichpeer-to-peer service was requested in the peer-to-peer request message118.

If the GGSN computer 116 can identify the respective peer-to-peerservice, it forwards the decoded peer-to-peer request message 119 to asuperpeer hosting server computer 120 connected to the GGSN computer116. The superpeer hosting server computer 120 is also disposed in themobile radio communication network 102. The superpeer hosting servercomputer 120 receives the decoded peer-to-peer request message 119 anddetermines whether it can provide the peer-to-peer service requested inthe peer-to-peer request message 119 by itself or not. According to thisexemplary embodiment, a certain telephone ringtone is requested by themobile radio terminal device 112 in the request message 119.

In the simplest case it is provided that the request message 118 is notmodified in any way, but is merely unpacked, which is what happens inany case in the GGSN computer 116. This means that in this case thepeer-to-peer request message 119 is a message sent by means of IP withthe destination address of any adjacent peer.

In this case, the superpeer hosting server computer 120 is nothing otherthan a simple IP router computer, with the difference that—as mentionedabove—a counting mechanism executes to ensure that, starting from aspecific popularity of a service, a superpeer instance of the respectivepeer-to-peer service will be installed on the superpeer hosting servercomputer 120.

If an unmodified version of a peer-to-peer file sharing program isinstalled on the mobile communication terminal device, there isvirtually no worthwhile means of processing these request messagesefficiently in the peer-to-peer message filter 117 or the superpeerhosting server computer 120 without the peer-to-peer message filter 117or the superpeer hosting server computer 120 already being set up insuch a way that it understands a basic variant of the peer-to-peercommunication protocol used, i.e. can process said protocol. In thiscase it should be ensured, depending on the peer-to-peer communicationprotocol used, that

-   -   1. a superpeer instance of the respective peer-to-peer service        is installed (see above) and    -   2. this superpeer is notified of the IP address of the superpeer        hosting server computer 120 and/or the mobile terminal devices        112. In this case the procedure followed is protocol-dependent.

Provided the superpeer selection algorithm of a specific peer-to-peercommunication protocol is sufficiently intelligent, after a certain timethe superpeer will automatically be found in the superpeer hostingserver computer 120 and made known to the mobile users 112. From thismoment the request messages 119 will be addressed to the superpeerhosting server computer 120.

To sum up, the peer-to-peer message filter 117 has to handle thefollowing tasks:

-   -   1. Determine the popularity of a peer-to-peer service;    -   2. Starting from a specific popularity of a peer-to-peer        service, initiate an installation of a superpeer instance of        this peer-to-peer service on the superpeer host computer 120;    -   3. If necessary, discard messages that are not addressed to a        superpeer instance in the own network, as explained in more        detail below.

As described above, the peer-to-peer protocol messages are alreadyaddressed to “any” IP addresses of “known” peers of a peer-to-peerservice. These known peers are identified by the peer-to-peer softwareeither with the aid of what are termed “rendezvous” server computerswhich provide a list of “active” peers or on the basis of presetaddresses (configuration file), or by means of a manual input by a user.

These three options also provide the starting points for integrating anown superpeer.

The parsing and manipulation of messages that are not addressed to theown superpeer is very involved and time-consuming, and worthwhile inexceptional cases.

An exceptional case of the kind is provided by what are termed“redirector” instances. These are protocol-specific and are somewhatsimilar to a rendezvous server computer.

They are likewise addressed directly by peer-to-peer software on theterminal device, but by means of certain messages (protocol-specific)can cause the peers to take account of superpeers.

According to the invention there thus result the following options,among others, for integrating an own superpeer:

-   -   1. Rely on the intelligence of the protocol (automatic).    -   2. Supply rendezvous server computer with IP of the own        superpeer.    -   3. Provide modified versions of peer-to-peer software which        already contain the address of the own superpeer.    -   4. Provide the address of the own superpeer on own website for        manual configuration of the peer-to-peer software for        downloading.    -   5. Make the peer-to-peer software aware of the own superpeer        with the aid of redirector instances of a peer-to-peer service        or by means of peer-to-peer protocol messages which permit a        redirect.    -   6. The filter discards all messages not addressed to the        superpeer. However, this only works when linked with an        above-mentioned method for making the own superpeer known to the        terminal devices.

If the corresponding peer-to-peer service is installed in the superpeerhosting server computer 120, it provides the requested peer-to-peerservice and communicates the result of the requested peer-to-peerservice to the GGSN computer 112 in a peer-to-peer response message 121.The peer-to-peer response message 121 is transmitted to the mobile radioterminal device 112 sending the peer-to-peer request message 119. Themultimedia file specified in the peer-to-peer request message 119,including, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the desiredtelephone ringtone, can then be read out from the memory of the peersuperpeer hosting server computer 120 and sent to the mobile radioterminal device 112 or also loaded by the respective peer-to-peerserver.

In this case, it is assumed as a prerequisite that an already installedand established superpeer supports a so-called “caching” function andthat the desired telephone ringtone has already been requested once andis therefore cached, i.e. buffered, on the superpeer. The datatransmission can therefore take place. A distinction is made in eachcase between request/response messages and the actual data exchange. Ifthe data is not cached, the superpeer hosting server computer 120 onlyspecifies the information relating to where in the peer-to-peer networkthe data is to be found. The downloading then takes place from there.

In the above case, this avoids a data stream reaching the fixedcommunication network 101 at all and tying up resources in that network.

A digital rights management system comprising a plurality of provideddigital rights management services 122 is also installed in thesuperpeer hosting server computer 120.

According to this exemplary embodiment of the invention, any mechanismsfor providing different digital rights management services may beinstalled.

In particular the following digital rights management services areinstalled in the superpeer hosting server computer 120:

-   -   a service for inserting a digital rights management coding        scheme by means of which it is specified that after a predefined        time has elapsed or at a predefined time an electronic file        specified in each case will become unusable or will be deleted;    -   a service for modifying the contents of a specified electronic        file;    -   a service for removing part of the contents of a specified        electronic file;    -   a service for scanning the electronic file for a computer virus,        a computer worm or a Trojan horse;    -   a service for signing the contents of a specified electronic        file.

Thus, when the requested electronic file is loaded onto the superpeerhosting server computer 120, the electronic file is cached, i.e.buffered, and the above described digital rights management services areperformed on the buffered electronic file before the latter istransmitted to the mobile radio terminal device 112.

In this way the mobile radio terminal device 112 is provided with therequested peer-to-peer service.

It should be pointed out in this connection that according to analternative embodiment, the above described procedure is also providedin the other communication direction, namely in a request message sentfrom the fixed communication network into the mobile radio communicationnetwork.

However, if the requested peer-to-peer service is not installed in thesuperpeer hosting server computer 120, the superpeer hosting servercomputer 120 forwards the request message 119 into the fixedcommunication network 101 (not shown), that is to say into the internetor into the peer-to-peer network 111 to the further fixed networksuperpeer computers 106, 107 or to the other fixed network peer-to-peercomputers 103, 104, 105 and in this way requests the peer-to-peerservice for the mobile radio terminal device 109 from the fixed networkcomputers 103, 104, 105, 106, 107. In this case the superpeer hostingserver computer 120 clearly represents an additional IP router computer.

Also provided in the superpeer hosting server computer 120 for anypeer-to-peer service known to it at all is a counter which, uponreception of a peer-to-peer request for the respective peer-to-peerservice, is incremented by the value 1 if the respective peer-to-peerservice has previously not been installed on the superpeer hostingserver computer 120.

If the counter value exceeds a predefined threshold value, thepeer-to-peer service thus achieving a sufficient popularity is installedand configured on the superpeer hosting server computer 120 manually,preferably automatically, by means of an installation mechanism.

At the time of installation of the respective peer-to-peer service onthe superpeer hosting server computer 120, the service to be installedis configured and equipped with resources, for example with sufficientcomputing capacity, a sufficiently fast communication link, i.e. a linkprovided with a sufficiently large bandwidth, into the fixedcommunication network, and with sufficient memory or storage space, insuch a way that the instance of the respective peer-to-peer servicewithin the entire peer-to-peer network is promoted to a superpeercomputer.

In this connection, during installation of the peer-to-peer service onthe superpeer hosting server computer 120 the service is published oncorrespondingly provided World Wide Web pages of a peer-to-peer serviceor an entry is made on so-called “rendezvous” server computers or inhost caches.

The mobile radio terminal devices 112 that wish to use a specificpeer-to-peer service can also be informed, preferably alsoautomatically, of the presence of a superpeer instance for therespective peer-to-peer service in the provider-own mobile radiocommunication network and configured accordingly.

The invention can be seen clearly in the fact that a superpeer computeris connected as far as possible in an optimized manner to a mobile radiocommunication network or is already disposed in the mobile radiocommunication network 102 itself and is operated by the mobile radionetwork provider, so that peer-to-peer request messages sent by a mobileradio terminal device 109 are not transmitted into the entire, abovefixed network-based, peer-to-peer network 111, but the messages areterminated at the earliest possible time, as a result of which the datatraffic occurring is reduced.

It should be pointed out in this connection that the invention can beapplied both to peer-to-peer architectures having two hierarchy levelsand also to hybrid peer-to-peer architectures provided with any numberof additional hierarchy levels.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention it is provided that in asearch query for an electronic file according to the respectivepeer-to-peer service an inquiry in respect of the electronic file ismade to a rights provider, more precisely to a digital rights providercomputer, that is connected to the superpeer hosting server computer, toascertain which rights information is assigned to the respectiverequested electronic file.

The digital rights provider computer is set up such that it has storedinformation relating to a plurality of electronic files and/or fileproviders, the information detailing which digital rights exist withregard to the use of the respective requested electronic file.

The digital rights data is transmitted in response to a request from thesuperpeer hosting server computer 120 to the latter by the digitalrights provider computer. The superpeer hosting server computer 120processes the requested electronic file according to the rightsinformation transmitted to it.

1. A communication system, comprising: a fixed communication network; amobile radio communication network; a mobile radio network-fixed networkinterface computer which is connected to the fixed communication networkand to the mobile radio communication network for mapping a data streambetween the fixed communication network and the mobile radiocommunication network; a superpeer host computer which is connected tothe mobile radio network-fixed network interface computer; and apeer-to-peer message filter which is disposed in the mobile radiocommunication network and which is set up such that peer-to-peermessages supplied to the peer-to-peer message filter from the mobileradio communication network are identified and can be delivered to thesuperpeer host computers, wherein at least one digital rights managementservice is installed in the superpeer host computer, by means of whichdigital rights management service usage rights with regard to anelectronic file which is transmitted from or to the mobile radionetwork-fixed network interface computer are specified.
 2. Thecommunication system according to claim 1, wherein the at least onedigital rights management service is set up such that at least one ofthe following is performed on the electronic file: inserting a digitalrights management coding scheme by means of which it is specified thatthe electronic file will become unusable after a predefined time haselapsed or at a predefined time; modifying the contents of theelectronic file; removing part of the electronic file; scanning for acomputer virus, a worm or a Trojan horse; and signing the contents ofthe electronic file.
 3. The communication system according to claim 1,further comprising a digital rights provider computer which is connectedto the superpeer host computer and is set up such that it transmits tothe superpeer host computer the rights to be taken into account for theelectronic file in each case.
 4. The communication system according toclaim 1, wherein the fixed communication network is based on internetprotocols.
 5. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein thesuperpeer host computer is disposed in the mobile radio communicationnetwork.
 6. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein themobile radio communication network is based on a mobile radio system ofthe third or a succeeding generation.
 7. The communication systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the mobile radio communication network isbased on one of the following mobile radio communication networks:Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, and Future Public LandMobile Telephone System.
 8. The communication system according to claim1, wherein the mobile radio communication network is based on a mobileradio communication network according to Groupe Speciale Mobile.
 9. Thecommunication system according to claim 6, wherein the mobile radiocommunication network is based on the Universal MobileTelecommunications System, and the mobile radio network-fixed networkinterface computer is a Gateway GPRS Support Node computer.
 10. Thecommunication system according to claim 1, further comprising aninstallation mechanism which is set up such that a peer-to-peer serviceis installed in the superpeer computer if the service is requestedsufficiently frequently.
 11. The communication system according to claim1, wherein the superpeer host computer has installed at least one searchservice by means of which information relating to the electronic file isdetermined by the computers provided in the fixed communication networkand made available for further processing.
 12. The communication systemaccording to claim 1, where a peer-to-peer superpeer host computer hasinstalled at least one digital rights management service by means ofwhich usage rights with regard to an electronic file which istransmitted from or to the mobile radio network-fixed network interfacecomputer are specified.
 13. A method for processing a peer-to-peermessage, comprising: identifying a mobile radio peer-to-peer message bya peer-to-peer message filter computer disposed in a mobile radiocommunication network; transmitting the mobile radio peer-to-peermessage to a superpeer computer connected to a mobile radionetwork-fixed network interface computer processing the mobile radiopeer-to-peer message by the superpeer host computer; and processing anelectronic file identified by the superpeer host computer according tothe mobile radio peer-to-peer message according to a digital rightsmanagement service installed in the superpeer host computer.